


when i see her (my head goes quiet)

by greenaway_lewis



Series: maybe we’re from the same star [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Cat cafe AU, F/F, copious mentions of hot chocolate, they're gay for eachother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28762137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenaway_lewis/pseuds/greenaway_lewis
Summary: "The counter was covered in small cat figurines, knick knacks, anything and everything one could buy to feel joy. There was another chalkboard over the counter. Beautiful swoopy lettering told her the drinks available to buy. Emily thought that maybe she could fall in love with a handwriting. Eyes are said to be the window to the soul but handwriting is the soul trying to break free. She hears the clicking of heels before she lays eyes on her.Her.She has blonde curly hair, the type she thinks would be wonderful to run her hands through. Her smile shone brighter than the sun itself, and Emily thought maybe sunglasses were necessary. The woman screamed color. Her dress was a bright purple with blue and green stripes, her eye makeup seemed to match. Her name tag said, Penelope. Her name was as beautiful as her and perhaps she’s found yet another way to escape her world."Or, Penemily cat cafe au featuring copious amounts of hot chocolate, puns, cats, and lots of pining.
Relationships: Penelope Garcia/Emily Prentiss
Series: maybe we’re from the same star [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069676
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	when i see her (my head goes quiet)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KermitSaysGayRights](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KermitSaysGayRights/gifts).



> Hi! This is the third installment in this series but is a stand-alone work. This is dedicated to my lovely friend Sophia! I hope you enjoy!

Emily Prentiss stared at her ceiling in boredom. Her office had decided to give everyone the week off which meant she was now faced with the unsavory task of deciding what to fill her days with. She’s not used to having time off, the years of never doing so- starting as early as seventeen- conditioned her well. Throwing herself into some form of work meant she never had to stop and think. 

Maybe she’d do some reading, she used to love slipping into worlds where all the problems were solved neatly, tied in a bow, by the end. As she got older, the books on her shelves collected dust, their stories fading into oblivion as her memories of them dissipated. What she really wanted right now was a sweet lesbian love story. If she can’t get a girlfriend, she’d at least like to read about someone else getting one.

JJ had recommended to her a cute little cafe that sold books a couple of minutes from her apartment. It was new and there was a rainbow flag out front, so she assumed that there would probably be at least one book that struck her niche. Luckily for her, JJ didn’t live too far from her, it was close enough to walk if she wanted to. 

The weather outside was just to her taste. Storming, but not enough that it was impossible to go outside. The way the air smelled during and after it rained was something she wished she could wear as a perfume. The sounds of the rain hitting her umbrella sounded like a beautiful percussion solo. She would walk in the rain forever if she could, it was safe there, her and an army of small water droplets waiting to make their mark on the world. 

The cafe stood out. 

In a sea of boring browns and white buildings, selling variations of the same product, there it was in all its rainbow glory. “Felines and Frappuccinos” was written in rainbow letters on a chalkboard outside. It too had an umbrella with the colors of the lesbian pride flag. Interesting. 

It was accompanied by little cat doodles that were the cutest thing Emily had seen in a long time. Without even stepping inside, she felt like this was going to be a new favorite place of hers. She pushed open its doors, the chime of a small bell announcing her arrival to another land. She didn’t need to be reading to be transported, apparently. 

The smell of coffee was the first thing that hit her. It was sweeter than your average cafe though, like black coffee was never served but instead specialty drinks that were closer to milkshakes. The walls were painted a sage green, drawing attention to the various plants of different sizes scattered around the room. Some were on tables, some on the floor to ceiling oak bookshelves that lined the walls, filled with books. 

The counter was covered in small cat figurines, knick-knacks, anything and everything one could buy to feel joy. There was another chalkboard over the counter. Beautiful swoopy lettering told her the drinks available to buy. Emily thought that maybe she could fall in love with a handwriting. Eyes are said to be the window to the soul but handwriting is the soul trying to break free. She hears the clicking of heels before she lays eyes on her. 

Her.

She has blonde curly hair, the type she thinks would be wonderful to run her hands through. Her smile shone brighter than the sun itself, and Emily thought maybe sunglasses were necessary. The woman screamed color. Her dress was a bright purple with blue and green stripes, her eye makeup seemed to match. Her name tag said, Penelope. Her name was as beautiful as her and perhaps she’s found yet another way to escape her world. 

“Hiya! What can I get for you, my love?” Penelope’s voice sounds like a rainbow personified. 

Emily blushes at the nickname and decides to shake things up and order a hot chocolate. While she waits, she decides to peruse the shelves to see if anything fits her preference. Much to her delight, she was not let down by the quantity of cheesy queer romance novels. She picked one out about two college roommates who fell in love. 

As she turns to pay for her newest guilty pleasure, she sees a streak of orange. The cat slowly walks up to her, curious. She’d always wanted a cat, someone to share her silence with. She scratched behind its ears and was rewarded with a meow. 

Slowly, with the book tucked safely under her arm, she makes her way to a seat, looking around. The tables are a soft pink, with black booths. Her shoes sound almost too loud for the environment. For all its screaming color, it’s tranquil to her ears. There are soft sounds of what seems to be some kind of indie music playing in the background, a secret only meant to be heard by one person's ears. Emily slides into a booth, crosses her legs, and lays her book on the table. Soon enough, Penelope arrives with her hot chocolate, the clicking of her shoes on the linoleum her introduction. 

“One mug of extra chocolatey hot chocolate for you, madam.”

The mug is bright pink and says ‘les-bee-n’ with a little doodle of a honeybee. Emily smiles at the sight of it. The hot chocolate looks to die for. Whipped cream piled high with chocolate curls. There’s a candy cane in it, even though Christmas has long since passed. It feels painfully nostalgic for some reason. If she hadn’t come to the conclusion earlier, she would have decided then and there that this was a place she wanted to spend hours upon hours in.

“Thank you, Penelope.” There’s a smile to her voice that seems far softer than one she had made before. Almost as if her mouth seems to know what she wants before she does.

Emily settles back into her romance book, letting herself be sucked into a fictional world of love and hope. She misses the longing glances sent her way from Penelope, the way her eyes seem to want to stare at her for hours. 

Emily makes it halfway through the book before she realizes that she should probably go find something to eat. She makes her way to the counter once more, to return her mug and pay for her book.

“Hi, I’d like to buy this,” it comes out as unsure, so she amends, “I mean, I’ve already read like half of it so I like, need to finish it now. Shit, I probably should have paid for it before I read it. That's like, customer 101. But I’ll pay for it now? I mean, of course I will, that's why I’m here, I just-” 

Penelope starts to giggle, saving her from further embarrassment. She thinks then and there that there is no sound as beautiful as Penelope’s laugh. She wants to bottle it up and save it forever.

“Emily, you’re fine, I saw you reading it, I knew what you were doing. Plus, I, like, love books, of course I want you to read them silly goose.” 

Emily slides the book over the counter and hands over her credit card. “So, any plans for tonight? Hot date maybe?”

“Nah, just going to grab some dinner.” 

A thought occurs to her. Maybe she should ask her to get it with her. What could go wrong? Maybe she loses her new safe haven but that's small potatoes in comparison to having the sun personified shine in her company for hours. 

“You know, um, I was thinking,” she’s interrupted by the chiming of a phone. Not hers though, Penelope’s. 

“Hold on.” 

When the woman reads the message, her eyes light up the way they only do when you’re in love. Of course, she wasn’t single. Someone that beautiful had to be noticed by someone. And, even if she wasn’t, it was doubtful she would have said yes anyway. 

The sun does not shine for the rain. It shines for beautiful things. She is not one of them. 

“Okay, sorry what were you saying?” Her voice is so beautiful. It’s a shame it’ll never sing just for Emily.

“Oh, uh, it’s not important. Nevermind. Goodbye, Penelope.” If the sad finality of her voice is noticed it is not mentioned. 

Emily walks back to her apartment more somber than she had left it. The rain no longer seems to make music but joins in her melancholy. She wonders why she thought, even for a second, that she had a chance. A chance at love, happiness, and to be understood. She needs to stop falling for people in one day, it’s a dangerous thing to let a stranger break your heart. She’ll control herself, she’ll be better.

The next day she makes it to two o’clock before the craving for hot chocolate is too strong. And, well, who is she kidding, she’d like to see Penelope again. She tells herself that yesterday was a fluke. Emily Prentiss does not hopelessly pine. It’s just… been a while since she’s had someone. That's it.

The cafe feels just as warm as it did the day before. She can now see how the place looks when the sun illuminates it. It’s brighter, the plants seem to reach for the sun, and the cats lay on beds that are positioned ever so perfectly to catch the warmth. She leans down to gently pet the dark head of the cat closest to her, and it lets her. it knows she’s not a threat. A faint smile ghosts her lips, she’d forget what it felt like to be loved by an animal. 

“That’s Sergio,” a voice behind her says, shocking her gently out of her trance. 

“Hi, Sergio!” Emily whispers before turning her head back to Penelope. “So, how many are there?”

Penelope lights up, her blue eyes twinkle like they were made for telling stories. “So we adopt these cuties from local animal shelters until someone else wants to adopt them but for now we have five! You’ve met Sergio, there’s Frankie, Lily, Sunny, and Princess,” she points to the cats as she lists them off. 

Emily stands up, brushing the cat hair off her pants, and says with a smirk, “So, what's a gal to do to get some hot chocolate around here?” 

“Ask,” her voice is teasing and it cracks small holes in Emily’s new resolve

She gives a small wave to Sergio as she walks to the booth she’s now calling her own. She resumes her reading, hoping to finish it before the sunsets. Her hot chocolate is set gently in front of her. The pile of whipped cream is still there but this time there are rainbow sprinkles. 

“You know, I uh, was hoping you’d come back,” she tucks a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear, showing off the cat earrings she’s adorning. 

“Really?” Somehow, she always makes Emily’s voice turn soft, “Uh, I mean of course I’d come back, this place is so cool, I’d live here if I could.”

“Thank you,” she pauses, like she has more to say but turns around anyway.

Emily closes her book just as the clock hits five-thirty and the sun begins to set. She stretches, getting ready to head back home. There's nothing keeping her here anymore, the hot chocolate is gone and her book is finished. She brings her mug to the counter, this one says pan-da, the panda colored pink, yellow, and blue. 

“Finish your book?”

“Sure did! A bit cliche but boy do I love reading about love.”

“One might say you love it?”

Emily mock groans at that “God, you and your puns.”

“Aw come on you love them, dont’cha?”

“Never stop.” 

It lingers in the air like a confession. Emily clears her throat, shaking the air as if an etch-a-sketch. “So what’s in this hot chocolate? It’s seriously the best I’ve ever had and I consider myself a hot chocolate expert.”

“Do you now? God, that would be a dream job, honestly. I love it here but if I could just drink that stuff all day, I’d be the happiest woman alive.”

“If you did unlimited refills, I don’t think I’d ever leave this place.”

“Yeah? I’ll think about it.” Emily does not want to think about the subtext behind that. 

“Take care, Penelope.” And with that, she leaves her.

Her home feels duller now that she’s seen the light. The apartment has never felt as lonely as does now. The hours of comfortable silence in the cafe have grown on her. You don’t always need to speak to someone to feel their presence. Emily finds herself longing for company. Maybe she’ll adopt a cat. 

Her third day in the cafe is much like her first. She browses the section, it feels slightly bigger, like someone added a few to the collection. 

“Pirates huh? How much did the pirate pay for his earrings? A buck-an-ear.” They both laugh at the terrible joke and at Emily's choice to read a pirate book of all things. 

“Speaking of earrings, I like yours.” Today, she was wearing small easels.

“Thank you,” she sounds almost surprised that Emily had noticed. Like Emily doesn't stare at her enough to paint a portrait from memory. “Am I to assume you’d like a hot chocolate?”

“That you are. Now if you’ll excuse me it's time to walk the plank, matey,” she puts on a phony pirate accent and swings her arm in front of her before walking an imaginary plank. Her back is turned, and she misses the adoring look the barista gives her. 

Sergio is laying on her table and meows when he sees her. It fills her heart with warmth and she makes sure not to disturb him in his lounging. The two are content to share the silence, the turning of pages and the soft music the only sounds. Emily shuts her book when she hears the telltale sounds of heels on the floor, hoping maybe to draw some more conversation.

“Per request, one hot chocolate for my second mate.” Today's mug says bi-nosaur and has a cute doodle of a baby dinosaur. 

“Wow, second mate, it’s an honor captain, I’ll take my duties very seriously. Who do I have to fight to be your first mate?” She's joking but she’s also hoping to put a name to the person who has the honor of seeing Penelope’s smile on a daily basis. 

“I sure hope you aren't planning on fighting my sweet Hank. I couldn’t stand to see the two of you go at it.” 

Hank, that's a name. Sounds more like a grandfather's name than a boyfriend.

Penelope’s phone dings with a text. 

“Speaking of my love, that might be him.” Before Emily can come up with something witty to reply, a loud aww comes from next to her. “You have to see this.” 

In all honesty, there are many things Emily would rather do than look at a picture of Penelope’s boyfriend but it’s so very hard to say no to her. She nods and takes the phone and, low and behold, Hank is not the boyfriend but instead an admittedly cute 3-year-old boy. He’s surrounded by who Emily assumes are his parents. Boy, does that kid have some good genes. For reasons unbeknownst to either of them, Emily starts laughing maniacally.

“What are you laughing about? You’re insane, you know.” 

It takes Emily a minute to catch her breath and stop laughing. Her cheeks burn when she finally calms herself, but that doesn’t stop her smile from growing.

“No, no, no, I’m not laughing at the kid, he's adorable. Well, actually, I guess I am. It’s just, I thought Hank was your boyfriend. So here I am expecting to look at a grown man and there's this three-year-old. Sorry, sorry,” she’s still giggling through her excuse and by the time she finishes, Penelope is also in stitches.

“You thought? Oh my god. No, no, no that precious bit of cargo is my godson and the son of my dearest, most attractive friend, Derek Morgan. I, unfortunately, am very much single, and also very gay,” her eyes glimmer at the end of her sentence. Maybe there's hope for Emily yet. “Anyways, I have to get back to work, enjoy your trashy romance book dear.”

“You know I will, Penelope.” Emily can barely focus on her book though, her mind running with the new information. Not only is Penelope not dating anyone, but she’s also into girls. Although, she figures, not the type of girl she is. No, Penelope deserves only golden things, and Emily is very much silver. 

After an hour with no progress on the novel and her hot chocolate already drained, Emily decides to call it quits and head back home. Maybe she’ll see if there's a movie playing. She stands up and starts to leave before realizing she forgot to return the mug. She probably doesn't have to return it but it feels like the right thing to do. She turns around and begins to walk back to her seat, she goes to pick up the mug when she collides with Penelope, the hot liquid splashing onto her shirt.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! You just mentioned that you thought unlimited refills would be cool, so I thought I’d get you a refill, and then you weren’t in your seat, so I thought I’d just, like, bring it back and drink it, and here you are, and oh shit. it's all over you.”

“Hey, hey breathe, Penelope, I’ll be okay, I don’t think I’m burnt or anything.”

“God, I’m so clumsy,” her voice is deprecating and it hurts Emily's heart. 

She puts her hands on Penelope's shoulders and looks her in the eye. “Really, I appreciate the gesture, it was very kind of you.”

Penelope nods slowly, “Okay well you can't go home wearing that. Um, I think I might have an old t-shirt or something laying around here?”

They go to the office, it’s tucked behind all the counters. It's a tight fit for both of them, the desk in the center of the room taking up the majority of the room. The office is decorated exactly as she’d imagine. Posters of baby animals and indie artists adorn one wall, the other filled with painted canvases. 

“Did you paint those?”

“What? Oh, those? Yeah! I’ve been painting since I was little, I love it!”

“They’re gorgeous,” she says and bites back the ‘just like you’ on the tip of her tongue.

“Thank you, Emily,” the same look of wanting to say something more passes her face. “Anyway, it should be here somewhere.” 

She starts rifling through her stuff until she pulls out a huge oversized purple shirt that reads ‘Grab the Monet and let’s Gogh’. Emily snorts when she reads it. 

“Great, huh?” Penelope says with a smirk and tosses it to Emily. 

There's no bathroom in the cafe so she decides to just change there; the less time she has to be in her shirt soaked with hot chocolate and sticking to her stomach, the better. As she changes, Penelope's face heats up and starts to match the red from the painting behind her. 

“Wait, wait, is that a tattoo?”

“Yep,” she pops the p, “Got it the day I turned eighteen. It’s a blackbird. They're mysterious, and I think they’re so cool. Plus it pissed my mom off so, really, a win-win.”

Penelope steps closer, gently ghosting Emily’s side after getting a nod as permission. 

“It’s stunning. I love it.” 

The shirt hangs like a smock on Emily. “Why one earth do you have a shirt this big?” She tucks it in her pants in an attempt to not like a toddler wearing his fathers' shirt. 

“I paint in it!” 

“Ah, a lucky charm I see.”

“You’re a charmer, aren’t ‘cha?” Penelope quips as she walks away.

“Yes ma’am.”

Emily sits back in her booth and Penelope slides in, this time holding two hot chocolates. The two fall into easy conversation. Emily talks about her travels as a teenager, and Penelope talks all about her charity work and the cafe. 

“Well, I’m glad you started this place, it’s so neat. What inspired you?”

“Oh, a couple of friends. One thought it’d be neat to have not only a cat cafe but also one with books, and then my other friend was like ‘oh my god you have to name it Felines and Frappuccinos because alliteration’ so I did. Elle’s a genius, I don’t think I could have come up with something that snazzy. I would have named it like Cats and Coffee but that is not the coolest.”

“Well cheers to Elle, then.” 

The two clink and share a laugh. Emily sets her ‘les-be honest, you’re cute’ mug down on the table and clears her throat. She doesn’t want to spend another day without hearing Penelope's laugh, she’s the most interesting person she’s met.

“So, I was thinking I’d go see a movie tonight. And, um, I was thinking that you’d maybe like to go with me?” Penelope looks surprised, and immediately Emily berates herself for thinking she was worthy of basking in the sun, “I mean, if you want to! You totally don’t! I just, um, thought it would be fun.”

Penelope’s mouth curls in a smile, “Are you asking me on a date, Miss Prentiss?”

“I mean, I was, but we could go as friends if that’d be better! I just-”

“I’d love to. Pick me up at 7?”

Emily stutters, surprised, “Yes! I’ll, uh, I’ll be there.”

She practically runs home in excitement. She makes herself a sandwich and tries to quell her nerves. It didn’t work. 

The two hours flew by and she finally decided on a green flannel and black ripped jeans. She redid her eyeliner and added dark green eyeshadow. She laces up her docs and heads out. 

Conveniently, Penelope lives above the cafe so she's at least in familiar territory. She's never been in the cafe after dark but it’s a sight to see. Penelope comes out of her office, and Emilly swears her heart stopped. She’s wearing a pink summer dress with yellow flowers, her blonde hair is curled. She doesn’t look much different than she normally does but she’s twice as beautiful knowing this was for her. Around her neck is a silver necklace with a bird on it. It's not a blackbird but it still feels like fate. They link arms and head to the movie theatre. 

The movie theater isn’t too crowded, and they get good seats. As it turns out, Penelope is the type of person to talk during the entirety of the movie. Her thoughts are too pressing not to share, and, normally Emily would hate it but Penelope makes all things easy to love. Although, she will occasionally throw popcorn at her, both to hear her laugh and to get her to quiet for a second so she can hear what's going on. 

By the end of the movie, Emily’s head is nestled into Penelope’s shoulder. Home at last. 

They walk hand in hand back to Penelope’s house, who talked animatedly about her favorite parts. Emily thinks she could listen to her talk for the rest of her life and never complain. They kiss gently at the door and Emily waves goodbye.

Emily practically lives at the cafe now, she has no reason not too, if she’s not at work she's probably there. When it’s empty, the two share laughs over hot chocolate. Emily continues her saga of bad romance books, they’re more fun when you’re in love. 

Today, she's reading about two childhood best friends who slowly fall in love over the years. Penelope is sitting next to her, doodling on her forearm, they’re the cutest things she’s seen. She wishes they were tattoos, a permanent reminder of today. Maybe someday. The pen tickles her and she laughs. She hopes to spend the rest of her life making Penelope feel an ounce of the joy she feels in this moment. She is safe, and she is home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @/rosesblueviolets and @/thestrawberrygirl on tumblr for their help. If you would like to find me on tumblr I'm @greenaway-lewis. I hope you liked it, consider leaving a comment perhaps. Have a lovely day and drink some water. <3


End file.
